Keeping Up: Saving When Fuel Prices Rise

By Ryan Skidmore

January 25, 2017

Data DrivenThe tools of infrastructure and business, for the most part, are already optimized. Vehicles are more efficient than they have ever been. Roads, in the most of the United States and Canada, are well maintained and efficiently move vehicles about. Most of the low hanging fruit is gone and the only way to squeeze more efficiency out is data. Google defines data as “facts and statistics collected together for reference and analysis.” For small business purposes, this can be anything more than just eye balling it or going by feel. Without getting too detailed, using data is a skill and everything in the next section weighs on understanding that data drives everything in business big and small, a somewhat analytical approach is needed to even get in the door of benefits. Gathering data, recalling it, drawing correlations, translating raw information to actions, making changes to those actions based on what worked and what didn’t, and most importantly patience to stay the course all take time to foster into a full fledged craft. If this approach feels unnatural, making decisions with data for business is different from making decisions in everyday civilian life. The average person may plan-out their week or month and weigh the decisions they know they need to make at that time without a real substantial way to track how they are actually applying those predetermined choices and measure the outcome. Don’t do this for business. Have a real game plan.

Rubber Meets the Road.Data is great and once that’s covered, seize the day with action. First, drive better. Your drivers need to:

Reduce idling: this wasted fuel isn’t getting your product to your customer any faster and still costing you money

Reduce any harsh acceleration: few things feel better but waste more fuel

Stop speeding: the higher the RPMs and more wind resistance the more fuel is consumed

Use cruise control: a consistent speed without acceleration or deceleration reduces fuel consumption

Next, better route planning. Any level of managing the routes your drivers take will improve your over–all fuel efficiency. Truly examining what routes they take for routine trips will almost inevitably reveal some inefficiency. Lastly, better accountability. Follow up and steps towards outcomes do a world of difference for small businesses that have already taken basic actions toward better accountability.

Manage that Fleet!Use Fleet Management to squeeze extras gallons out of your fleet. Meaning use a tool or system to keep track of many metrics over your entire fleet. This is the gathering and recalling part of data. More specifically, track maintenance of your vehicles. Using an electric tool to gather mileage and OBDII codes will enable keeping more precise records. Many small gains add up to big ones especially over time. It allows for automatic alerts when certain actions need to take place at certain times like changing oil, rotating tires, etc. We here at Carmine are constantly increasing the list of tools in our system. Such tools are the only way to get the absolute maximum fuel savings.

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